When it comes to domestic leasehold property in Brent Cross, you are actually purchasing a right to live in a property for a set period of time. In recent years flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a long period of time, you may consider extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly particularly once there are less than eighty years remaining. Anyone in Brent Cross with a lease nearing 81 years unexpired should seriously consider extending it without delay. When the lease term has under 80 years remaining, under the current legislation the freeholder can calculate and levy a larger amount, assessed on a technical multiplication, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is payable.
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years left, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below). Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| Chelsea Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage. Please ensure that you explain the implications of a short term lease to the borrower. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
Using our service will provide you better control over the value of your Brent Cross leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in respect of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancing solicitors that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
16 months ago Matthew, came dangerously near to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his ground floor apartment in Brent Cross. In buying his property twenty years previously, the unexpired term was of little relevance. As luck would have it, he became aware that he would soon be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Matthew arranged for a lease extension at the eleventh hour in July. Matthew and the freeholder via the managing agents eventually settled on sum of £5,500 . If the lease had fallen to less than 80 years, the amount would have gone up by at least £900.
Ms P Wilson was assigned a lease of a basement apartment in Brent Cross in February 1995. We are asked if we could estimate the premium could be to prolong the lease by ninety years. Comparative properties in Brent Cross with an extended lease were valued about £166,800. The average amount of ground rent was £50 collected every twelve months. The lease finished on 24 November 2075. Taking into account 50 years unexpired we calculated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £32,300 and £37,400 exclusive of legals.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Brent Cross residence is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 71 years.